I tire of this Earth to which we cling. Surely there is something beyond it. A place where bigotry and hatred have passed. Where the inhabitants are not limited by their flesh. Isn't there someplace like that?
There is a place like that; it isn't easy to get to. You have to be a good person. And then you have to die. At least according to two of the most popular religions ever....
But what if you don't want to die? Surely there's someplace more ... corporeal that fits those criterion.
Not on this world. Here, on Earth, each person suffers from the terrible conviction that their opinion is correct. Acceptance is a word tossed around by bigots while they wait for enough people to support them so they can enforce their opinions on everyone.
Look at Christianity. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Be meek and humble. Until you have a few hundred knights that you can attack the next kingdom with, or until someone does something that offends you. Then start a war. Better yet, start an Inquisition.
Check out Islam. Convert a city peacefully, conquer the next few, repeat.
Sadly, these groups aren't the worst offenders. Most everyone is prejudiced. Some are even bigoted, but no one realizes it. The people who claim that a police officer arrests black people more often than white people are far more racist than the law man they are accusing of bigotry. They claim that they don't want there to be discrimination based on color, all the while making discriminations. Saying that a black man should get the job when he and a white man have each applied and are equally qualified is just as racist as giving said job to the white guy because he's white.
It's not just racism either. It's every form of bigotry. Whether it's sexism or racism or ageism (or in my case IQism), someone in the room with you is guilty. I'm guilty. I'd say there's an eighty percent chance you are too.
I know. This is drastic. It's controversial. I don't care. If you've read it, then take it in stride. Let it sit in the back of your mind and mingle with all the tiny little prejudices you have and don't know about. And next time you meet someone new, think about what your first impression of them is. Analyze why you like them, or why you don't. Be honest with yourself.
To tell the truth I don't care if you apply this to your life. But if you do apply it, I hope it makes you a happier person. I hope that it doesn't hurt your relations with people. Give everyone a chance. When they mess it up, give them another. Who knows? Maybe someday you'll see all the other sinners with you in heaven and be able to avoid judging them.
Have you considered the improvements that man-kind has has made in the last century? People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Susan B. Anthony have helped to dramatically increase equality. I feel that MLK's dream is coming true thanks to the freedoms and blessings that U.S. government protects. We have been able to accomplish more in the last century than anyone else could in the last five thousand years. I believe that things will continue to improve, especially when I consider that we have a black man as president. Most people did or did not vote for him based on the content of his character.We are still far from prefect but we are moving in the right direction.
ReplyDelete.. a thought. Christianity doesn't condone torture, same as Islam doesn't condone terrorism. Just because those things have happened in the name of religion, doesn't mean they are following or holding true to the religion, and so the few should not characterize the many, and it's good to keep in mind that the past is not the future. Also, the thing about hiring black vs white; it happens because we are working, as a nation, to reverse the damage that segregation and racism did. sometimes we go overboard in trying to guarantee equality between black and white, but isn't that better than holding back, and letting it be unequal in our, white, favor? I understand what you're getting at and I agree to some degree, but I don't think that everyone is guilty of bigotry. (<--sweet rhyme! haha)It's true that is sadly common for people to obstinately hold an opinion or prejudice, to hold onto their truth as the only truth, but America has progressed towards being more accepting and less hostile to blacks, women, immigrants, and now, gays, for quite some time now.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of second-guessing my own first impressions, because who am i, really, to judge others? and also the idea of giving people not just second chances, but thirds, fourths, and eighths.
Continue to inspire. :)
Danica